Short Summary

Silver City Airways - one of Britain's major air charter services - recorded it's first major crash today when a Bristol 170 Wayferer airliner crashed on the snow covered Belmont Moors, near Bolton, Lanes.

Description

Silver City Airways - one of Britain's major air charter services - recorded it's first major crash today when a Bristol 170 Wayferer airliner crashed on the snow covered Belmont Moors, near Bolton, Lanes.

First reports revealed that 34 people had died in the wreckage of the aircraft which had broken into three parts as it smashed into the ground. Nine survivors, including members of the crew, staggered through the snow to a nearly TV transmitting station but one them died later in the day.

The crash occurred during one of the worst spells of Arctic weather to his the British Isles in ten years. Flying from Bonaldsway, Isle of Man, the airliner was on its way to Ringway Airport, Manchester, and carried a party of 42 motor traders, who were going to visit the Exide Rottery factory at Clifton Junction, Manchester.

The crash occurred only a few hundred yards from an Independent Television station which, with its 450 feet tower, is 1,450 feet above seas level. Many of those who were sitting in seats facing the rear of the aircraft were among the survivors.

Technicians from the ITV station were among the first on the scene of the accident, struggling across the bleak moorland and through visibility that had been out down to 30 yards. Others rushed away to the nearest houses to call for help.

The first they know of the crash was when one of the aircrew burst into the TV station and said, "There has been a crash". The engineers, who had been out off from the outside world since Monday, except for telephone contact, immediately dialled 999 to set the rescue operations in motion.

While helicopters hovered over the scene ready to lower doctors, a giant snowplough joined the gangs of volunteers digging their way through the deep snow drifts that surrounded the area.

This was the first accident involving death of injury to a Silver City passenger since the company started operations 12 years ago. In that time 1 1/2 million passengers have been carried without incident on more than 200,000 flights.